Route Unknown
by Priest Li Xiang
Summary: A slight change of reality... Destiny Islands isn't the last place that the Heartless destroy... it's the first. Sora is beset with a task... and no one knows what it is.
1. Default Chapter

I've no idea if this idea has been done before; if it has, I'm sorry for anything that might appear similar to the other fic. As it is, I'm operating under the idea that it has _not_ been written before, and, as such, is a completely new and original idea.   
  
I tried to go with as close to the script for Riku and Sora's words during the End of Destiny Islands, but I've likely got parts wrong. Even though I started (another) new game yesterday, my memory is not perfect, so there are likely some discrepancies. That's okay, though. This is an AU, after all.  
  
This fic is only archived at Fanfiction.net and Keyblades Crossed (check my profile, since FF.net doesn't want to show the bloody link) should it appear elsewhere without my permission, I shall be rather pissed off. Just because I'm apathic ninety percent of the time doesn't mean I don't have one bitch of a temper.  
  
Kingdom Hearts is property of Disney Interactive and Squaresoft.  
  
--  
  
Route Unknown  
Chapter One  
Li Xiang  
  
--  
  
He had only just gotten into his room, thinking over what had been said a few hours earlier as the sun set, sitting on the end of the dock with Kairi. Surely, Riku was not any different than he had ever been... Riku had always been a bit strange, and the silver haired fifteen year old was not known for keeping it a secret. He had always been a bit of a loner, only ever allowing Sora, and then, later, Kairi into his friendship. It was still somewhat disturbing that the long-time friendship he had held with the older teen had become a rivalry of sorts over Kairi...   
  
His thoughts shattered as the wind outside his window slammed his shutters shut with unprecedented force. Sure, there had been some pretty wicked storms during his fourteen years of life, but Sora had always been down in the underground bunkers when the occasional hurricane hit, and outside of those fierce ocean storms, he'd never seen the wind get to this magnitude. Gingerly, he reached up to latch his shutters shut, to keep them from banging about, when his had froze.   
  
The raft!   
  
Without thought, he tugged his jacket, gloves and boots back on, slamming the window open and plunging off the second story windowsill. It wasn't the first time he'd done as such, and he'd fallen from the higher cliff faces of the obstacle course before, so he wasn't even bruised. Yellow boots slammed down hard on the wooden planks that made up the 'roads' between each of the houses on the island. He found himself in his little skiff, pushing off from the dock and speeding through the water in little time; he had to tie up the raft so that all their hard work didn't get washed away in the storm.   
  
It was with a start, as he looped a rope around the poles at the other dock, that he realized that both Kairi and Riku's boats were also tied to the dock. A quick look about revealed that he could vaguely see Riku on the small island where they normally duke it out, stick-to-stick. It was to dangerous to splash through the waters to the ladder that dropped into the ocean, so he made a running jump, latching onto the roof-top of the seaside shack and pulling himself up. Another jump had him on the bridge, racing towards his friend. It was certainly much faster than actually going through the shack.   
  
He skid to a stop a bare two feet from his long time friend, "Riku!"   
  
"Sora..."   
  
He ignored the whimsical tone in his friend's voice, instead letting his gaze roam the small island, "Riku! Where's Kairi?! I thought she was with you!"   
  
"The door has opened," the older boy mused, turning his attention from the sky to the wild-haired youth at his side.   
  
"What are you talking about? We've got to find Kairi!"   
  
"She's coming with us," the faintly mocking smirk on Riku's face was ignored in favor of giving him an incredulous look. Sora opened his mouth to respond, but Riku beat him to it, "The door is open. Once we go through, we may not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us."   
  
"R... Riku?"   
  
"I'm not afraid of the darkness," Blue-green eyes turned away from him to stare up at the black and crimson orb hovering high over their heads, "Are you...?"   
  
And he lifted his hand, holding it out to Sora in a manor that was eerily familiar... oh good gods... Sora's eyes widened with panic as he recognized the gesture from his daydreams two days earlier. Riku had done the exact same thing, just before they'd been swallowed by the ocean's waves.   
  
However, this time it wasn't water that was drowning them, but darkness and shadows. The chattering of the strange black creatures back on the main island grew loud in his ears and the darkness reached up to envelope both himself and his best friend, "Ri-Riku!"   
  
"I'm not afraid," repeated the older teenager, not even moving an inch as Sora reached up to grasp him palm. For an instant, Riku and Sora held hands, Sora accepting Riku's invitation. For an instant. Then fear welled up in Sora's chest, fear of the deep violet shadows that were formering about their feet, and Sora felt his grip fail; something seemingly slamming into his gut, staggering him. And he fell back, not unlike in his dream, and cried out in pain and shock, "Riku!"   
  
"Sora!" It was the first true emotion Sora had heard since they began to speak, and blue eyes locked on blue-green. The brown haired fourteen year old was stunned by the fury that flooded his best friend's normally hodded gaze, before the purple shadows and the all-encompassing darkness swallowed them both, squirming and writhing shades of emptiness, invading lungs and stomach and heart and mind and soul, as Sora struggled desparately in vain to find his friend once more.   
  
Then bright, golden white light flared in his periphial vision, and something cool, heavy, and solid landed in his open palm. The shadows about him screeched and howled in pain, withdrawing from their feast of clammy flesh, and leaving the teenager panting for breath on the ground, clutching at the heavy, oversized key that was his salvation. Blue eyes cleared, and although he felt safe, felt reassured, he could still feel those insidious shadows that had crept into his body, had found safety from his salvation's ruthless resistance of their viscious attack. They creeped and crawled and coiled around heart and soul, mind and body, chilling his fevered body to the bone.   
  
As he lay, flat on his back, clutching at the giant key in his palm, he heard something whisper in his ear, "Keyblade..."   
  
Still, worry for both Riku and Kairi was foremost in his mind, and thus the youth struggled to his feet, ignoring the voice; shoving it to the back of his mind to forget about. Using the key as a crutch, still weak from that which had attempted to envelop him, he stumbled his way away from the small island, determined to find his other friend, his crush, his love. Tired eyes caught upon an elegantly crafted door that rested atop the entrance to the so-called 'secret place'-- gods knew, everyone knew where it was-- that had never been there before. Confused and wary, he batted the black bug-like creatures away from him with his key, resolved to find out what was going on. Nothing was making any sense!   
  
The door opened almost as soon as he was in front of it, and he had to momentarily bend down to crawl through the under-sized vine-covered entrance, straightening once a few feet in. Then he was moving, the key in his hand no longer needed as a crutch, his careful steps echoing strangely in the silence of the cave. While the doors would likely keep the wind from whistling into the cavern from that way, there was always the two window-like openings at the top of the cavern's roof. There should have been wind, should have been _sound_ coming through them, but he heard nothing. The silence was unnerving.   
  
Then he was in the cavern, staring at the white cloth covered back of his other best friend, "Kairi!"   
  
"...Sora..." her voice was lost and distant as she turned away from the brown and yellow oblong... thing... that had always been at the far end of the Secret Place.   
  
"Kairi!" He moved to step forwards, but the brown and yellow _door_ burst open, wind ripping out and through it, accompanied by streaks of what looked like black lightning. The redheaded girl was blown towards him by the wind, and he opened his arms, attempting to grasp her and cushion her impact-- but she vanished only a split second before she would have hit him. Eyes wide with shock, he lost his own perilous balance, and the wind whisked him up. Pain pulsed through his back and sides as he hit rock after rock, tumbled as he was through the tunnel back to the surface. His cranium cracked solidly against the stone of the entrance, briefly causing his vision to swim, and then blacken. The wind raced out through the hole not unlike a vacuum, and took him with it.   
  
He ended up rolling across sand, spitting it out once he got his bearings, shaking his head and trying desperately to ignore the pain in his every limb. Good bloody gods above and below did it hurt. His body had not been made to take that kind of punishment. His hands scrabbled for purchase, and he hauled himself up onto his knees, eyes widening and mouth drying as he realized he was only bare inches away from having fallen off the edge of the island.   
  
Off the edge of what remained of the island.   
  
Bounding to his feet, Sora's panicked gaze brushed over everything-- the island had been torn asunder somehow, some when. The cave he'd been in moments ago had vanished; the only signs that life had once been on this island were the scattered and broken remains of the seaside shack, the bridge, and the dock. Sand was everywhere.   
  
A chill raced up his back, and he whirled, eyes landing on the beast of his nightmarish daydreams. His tongue felt thick in his throat, gritty and dirty in a way that it would have been, even without having minutes previously been eating sand. The dark creature that had grown from his own shadow in his dreams moved closer, and Sora dropped into a defensive stance, knowing in the pit of his stomach that without a weapon he'd never survive. He was practiced in swordsmanship, not in bare handed fighting techniques. He'd dropped the key when he'd been launched from the cavern, and had no idea where it could be. It had likely fallen off the edge of the floating landmass that had once been part of an ocean.   
  
Sora backed off a few feet as the creature came closer, and he looked around nervously for a plank of wood he could weild as though a sword. He needed a weapon-- _any_ weapon!   
  
Then, to his surprise, the key returned to his hand. He had dropped it, hadn't he? Back when the wind had howled from the door, and Kairi had flown towards him, he had dropped the key to catch her... how had he-- then there was no more time to think, as the creature's hand came barreling down towards him. Heart in his throat, the youth dodged to the left, swinging the key much as he would have swung his wooden sword at Tidus while the blonde haired youth was staring about confused, wondering where his opponent had vanished to. But this was no time for reminiscing. Sora would have leapt away, backing off and searching for safety, but for one thing.   
  
The creature had not screamed or cried out-- but it's dark flesh had screeched like that shadows that had bond him and invaded his body had done when the key came to his hand. So the key could harm these creatures...? That was good to know. He swung the key again and again, handling it much like he would have his wooden sword-- although the silver metal key was much heavier than his toy sword-- crashing it into the creature's hand, again and again and again.   
  
He had no hope that he would defeat this creature just by taking out one hand, like he had in his dreams, but it was the most easily available piece of the beast. Besides, taking out one hand would leave it less capable of harming him. Sora couldn't see, as the beast was absolutely oversized, that the reason why the hand he was attacking never looked damaged was because shadows were racing to it as protection, dissolving the shadow-formed mass bit by bit.   
  
It was hectic, and terrifying, fear lodging in his throat as the beast stood to it's full height, leaving Sora without a target. The pain in his limbs was making him slow, and the long day he'd had prior to this night-- sparring with Tidus, Selphie and Wakka, racing Riku around the obstacle course, and finding the foodstuffs for the raft-- catching up with him. He stumbled a few steps as black-rimmed pink energy balls impacted around him. Then the beast was on his knees again, reaching out to smash the insolent bug that dared to attack it.   
  
Sora reacted as fast as his lethargic body would allow him to, hacking fiercely at the hand that tried to pulverize him. This patterned continued, on and on and on, for several hours, Sora tired but fighting, and the beast losing cohesion at the larger size, reforming itself again and again, smaller and smaller each time.   
  
Finally it was his size, and Sora, tiredly triumphant, bellowed a war-cry, key slamming into the creature's left side, the shadows screeching and pulling apart, only to shatter as the key split it's body in half. Face bloody and bruised, limbs heavy, breath coming harsh, Sora had no time to wonder what would happen next in this bizarre, nightmare-like time. The only thing he knew was that as he collapsed unconscious in the sand, there was a horrendous noise. It sounded... sounded like the landmass he was laying flat out on... was tearing itself to pieces.   
  
---   
  
Mickey Mouse, king of his own warped little world, watched the sky as one of the stars flickered out. He watched for a few minutes more, then shrugged. After all, it was a proven fact that stars died from time to time. This had been the first star he'd seen wink out in over a decade. Sighing, he pulled away from his windowsill, and returned to his bedroom, where his wife lay sleeping.   
  
Tiredly, he settled himself down beside her, content in the knowledge that everything was right with reality.   
  
---   
  
"Kid? Hey, Kid, wake up!"   
  
"Nnnh...?" Sora's eyes fluttered open, before he squeezed them tightly shut once more, skull protesting to even that slight movement. Good gods was he in pain. He was in such pain that he didn't even acknowledge being called 'Kid'; something he hated being called with a passion. His skull pulsated in an uneven beat of torment, and he decided keeping his eyes tightly closed was a lot more fun that trying to wake up with one bitching headache.   
  
"Don't think I'm just going to let you lay hung over in this alley, Kid," the voice was annoyed, and the next thing Sora knew was that he'd been lifted into a pair of well sculpted arms, and was being carried away from where he'd been. He felt almost like he used to, back when his father had still been alive, and would cart him around the island as he had beens too small to get there on his own. Subconsciously, he snuggled closer to the source of heat, ignoring the exasperated sigh from the man hauling him about.   
  
As it was, his pleasurable little trip was cut abruptly short as he was unceremoniously dropped into icy water. Sputtering, the islander shoved wet bangs out of his face to glare up into the amused blue-green eyes of the almost adult standing over him. For a moment, Sora could have sworn it was Riku, but then the facts came into his brain-- the hair was too short, and blonde for that matter. No, this man with the scar between his eyebrows was certainly not his fifteen year old best friend.   
  
"Awake now?" queried the smirking man, and Sora scowled at him. Then he ignored him, instead popping his dislocated shoulder back into it's socket, and proceeding to take inventory of all his injuries. He had expected the blonde to take off once he was being ignored-- gods knew that Selphie and Tidus had never been ones to stick around if they were the ones being ignored-- but that was not the case. He found this out as he stripped off his wet jacket, hopping up onto the side of the canal, and unzipping the top of his battle-beaten jumper to check for anything overly serious. His ribs hurt like a bitch, and it wasn't just from being dropped by the blonde.   
  
When a black gloved hand pressed firmly against the bruising over his ribs on the left side of his body, he jumped in surprise. The blonde was staring at the assortment of injuries that covered the fourteen year old, and cursed, "Shit. Sorry for dumping you like that, Kid. Didn't realize you were injured."   
  
"Don't call me 'Kid'," Sora grumbled half-heartedly, more concerned with finding something to tap his ribs up with so they could heal, "My name is Sora."   
  
"Seifer," the man introduced himself, "C'mon, let's get to my apartment, I'll be able to take a better look at those injuries of yours."   
  
Sora looked up at him, ready to question his motives, when he suddenly found himself swept back up into Seifer's muscled arms again. It was rather fun being carted around like this, so he let the older teenager do so. This was approximately four seconds before he opened his mouth to question about the blonde's build. No mere laborer got muscles like that-- or had a blade scar between their eyes like the one Seifer had, "Do you do swordplay?"   
  
"Where did that come from?" the blonde wondered, momentarily looking curiously down at the youth in his arms, "And no, I don't. I'm a gunblade specialist."   
  
"Gun...blade?" he looked utterly confused, and Seifer had to chuckle, "What's a 'gunblade'?"   
  
"It's kinda the combination of a sword and a gun," he explained, "I've only ever meet-- and seen-- one other who could actually use one properly. He's the reason I'm in Traverse Town, actually."   
  
"Traverse Town?" he was sure he looked like an idiot, but he had to know, "is that where I am?"   
  
"You didn't know?" the blonde tilted his head, "Ah well, considering that it's practically a nexus for people escaping their worlds, I suppose it's understandable."   
  
"So... so I'm really on another world...?" Sora was stunned. This was what he and Riku and Kairi had been working towards for ages now. But... neither Kairi nor Riku were here to share it with him. His heart sunk, and the claws of darkness scrabbling for a hold within him leeched a little deeper, hardening said heart.   
  
Seifer raised an eyebrow, stretching that sharp scar of his oddly, "You came here without knowing it was a world that wasn't your own?"   
  
"I was kind of unconscious," Sora bit out uncomfortably; he was set down for a moment as Seifer fished his keys out of his pocket, and unlocked his door. The brown haired teenager moved to enter on his own, but Seifer picked him back up, and he was carried in to be placed on the dusty old couch in the room.   
  
"Unconscious?" pondered the blonde, "it shouldn't be possible to leave your world if you're unconscious..."   
  
"What if your world has been destroyed?" Seifer jerked to a halt in his search for medical supplies, turning confused eyes upon his guest.   
  
"What do you mean... 'destroyed'? Did the people of your world turn it into a nuclear wasteland? Some maniacal dictator decide upon using Time Compression to control everything? Did a meteor crash-land, or something?"   
  
Sora nodded slowly, "Or something. There was this huge storm, and then all these creepy shadowy creatures kept popping up and attacking me. Riku got swallowed by shadows, and Kairi vanished without a trace. Then our island was just a sand covered ruin, and this big black... thing... attacked me. I fought it-- that's where I got the injuries-- and managed to defeat it, but I collapsed. It sounded like the world was destroying itself, and I passed out. Then you dumped me in the water."   
  
Seifer frowned, returning to his task of procuring supplies to bandage the youth with. He worked in silence for a few minutes, trying to puzzle out everything that had happened in the younger boy's world leading up to it's destruction. Whatever had happened, it sounded like it was possible for it to happen in other worlds, as well. That was not a good thing, in any way, shape, or form. Upon tightening the bandage around Sora's chest, and listening to the hiss of pain that signified that it was just tight enough, Seifer spoke again, "Could they come here...?"   
  
"I don't know," Sora stared dully down at the man, "I don't know what's going on, what's happening. I don't know why I'm here, or where Riku and Kairi are, or even what I'm supposed to do now! What if Riku and Kairi are in trouble? What if those black things track me here, or worse yet, follow Riku or Kairi?"   
  
"Calm down Kid," Seifer smirked at the scowl he got in return, "You can worry about that stuff when it comes to bite you in the ass. For now, you should rest and let your body heal; I'd buy you a potion to fix ya up, but I don't have enough cash to pay for anything aside from this apartment and food supplies. Sorry Kid."   
  
"Do you have a problem with saying my name?" grumbled the youth, staring down at his bare and bandaged chest, his silver crown pendant appearing sharp and cold against the alabaster cloth. He could feel injuries on his thighs, and shakily stood to kick the rest of his jumper off, leaving him only in his white and black striped boxers. He grabbed the bandages, hiking his boxers up to bandage his upper thighs-- he was embarrassed to drop his boxers in front of this stranger. Not to say that he wasn't embarrassed to just be wearing his boxers, gloves and boots in front of a complete stranger; he was. He'd just die of embarrassment if he had to drop his boxers.   
  
Noting his discomfort, Seifer headed off for his small apartment's even smaller kitchen, rattling the cupboards in an attempt to find something for the pair to eat. There was very little in them-- he would be paid on Monday, which was two days from then, and then he'd go and buy groceries, but for now, they'd have to deal with Instant Sapporo. It wasn't the greatest soup he'd ever tasted-- nothing would ever beat Matron's soups, in his mind-- but it was good enough to eat. "So who are these Riku and Kairi guys?" the blonde wanted to know, rather curious.   
  
"Kairi's a girl," Sora called back, tightening the white cloth over a gash that was already scabbing over, testament to how much time he must had spent unconscious, "Riku's been my best friend since I was three or four. He's a year older than me, and is one hell of a swordsman. I don't think I've ever managed to beat him in our matches. Hell he beat Tidus, Selphie and Wakka when they triple-teamed him without batting an eye; or at least that's what Tidus told me. After Kairi came to our world, six or seven years ago, our friendship got kinda strained, since Kairi liked spending time with me, and Riku didn't like that. He kinda turned everything into a fight for Kairi's attention... I think he may have been jealous..."   
  
"Or he could have been upset that Kairi was taking up all your time," Seifer returned, feeling an echo of the pain he always felt when thinking about the 'family' he'd given up back at Garden when he'd joined forces with their enemy. An echo of the pain of being ignored by the guy that had been his best friend when they grew up at the orphanage... "And used the rivalry to keep your attention on him."   
  
"I never thought of it that way..." Sora looked down at his beaten jumper, "Hey, Seifer, do you think you have any clothing that might fit me?"   
  
"You're about two feet shorter than I am," the gunblader chuckled a bit, spirits lifted by the mental image of the fourteen year old being swamped in his clothing, "so I don't think so."   
  
"Damn..." Sora muttered, wondering what he was going to wear now. It wasn't like he had magically repairing clothing.   
  
With an amused smirk, Seifer set the Sapporo down beside his guest, then meandered on towards his bedroom. He could wear one of Seifer's T-shirts almost like a dress, the nineteen year old was sure of that, but it was better than nothing. Besides, Sora hadn't lost any of the baby fat in his face yet, so he'd probably _look_ like a girl in a dress any ways. If they had to go out, the only problem would be Sora's own self-consciousness.   
  
He shuffled through his drawers, hauling out one of his larger grey t-shirts, and a black and white vest not unlike the navy and grey one he was wearing at that moment. Although instead of a single tie directly though the center of the black and white vest, there were three clasps-- one at the throat, one in the center, and one two inches above the bottom. Seifer had liked it back when he bought it just before that whole 'incident' with the Sorceresses, but he'd long since gotten used to his navy and grey vest, and had only worn the black and white one once.   
  
He also grabbed a couple belts and a leather belt pack for Sora to dump his junk in. It wasn't like the t-shirt had pockets. With a smirk, he left his room, heading back to where his guest was digging in to the meal, apparently starving. Sora shrugged with a bit of a grin, "I haven't eaten since breakfast; and it was several hours after dinner by the time I beat that thing."   
  
"I'd be hungry too," mused the blonde, throwing the clothing at the youth, and ignoring the fact that it would take about three days before he got to the point of devouring piping hot soup, like Sora was. The joys of being a trained mercenary/assassin.   
  
"No pants?"   
  
"None of them would fit you."   
  
He got an evil glare, "I am not looking like I'm wearing a dress."   
  
"You're welcome to try and find any pants in my closet that will fit you," Seifer smirked, "Although I doubt it."   
  
"... I hate you."   
  
"Of course you do," the patronizing smile Seifer gave the boy caused the youth to carefully set what remained of his Sapporo soup on the coffee table, then promptly launch himself at the blonde, ignoring his wounds. The blonde laughed loudly, fending off the younger's attacks without even once hitting damaged flesh. If there was something Seifer was good at after all his years as a SeeD Cadet, it was knowing where another's injuries were. Where he had once used that knowledge to inflict the maximum amount of pain on his opponents, he used it here to keep Sora from getting even more hurt.   
  
To Sora's frustration, it was a bare five minutes later when his body began to protest his activities. He was used to going at least ten, fifteen minutes, when Riku wasn't being an asshole and beat him black and blue. Grumpily, the islander returned to his seat on the couch, and his meal, slurping down the rest of it without even bothering to touch the spoon Seifer had presented it to him with.   
  
After Seifer had cleaned out his own cup of Sapporo Instant Soup, and had thrown the garbage into a container, he returned his attention to his unusual guest, "You said that you fought the thing that destroyed your world?"   
  
Sora nodded, one hand subconsciously going to his bandaged ribs. Seifer didn't even bother to note the movement; it was something he was rather familiar with after taking so many damned SeeD Field Exams. He'd seen far to many SeeDs and Cadets do something similar when thinking about the incident that had harmed them. The blonde's blue-green eyes bore into the side of Sora's skull, "You a bare hand fighter?" It was the only explanation-- the kid didn't have a weapon with him when he'd found him.   
  
He just hoped that he wasn't dealing with another Zell Dincht. That wasn't exactly something he wanted to do. One Chickenwuss was annoying enough.   
  
Sora shook his head, "Swordsman."   
  
That raised an eyebrow, "You any good?"   
  
"Riku's better," Sora admitted, although there was that hint of annoyance to his voice, the hint that Seifer could quite often remember tinting his own voice, back before he'd gotten more girth than his own rival, and was able to be better than the other simply because he was physically stronger and more muscular.   
  
"You lost your sword when your world was destroyed, right?"   
  
Instead of responding, Sora lifted his hands into the air, a look of concentration gracing his child-like features. His concentration paid off when, to Seifer's surprise, there was a flare of white-gold energy running between both white gloved hands, that amassed into a silver key. Seifer's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the appearance. He'd never seen anything like that before, not even in the employ of a Sorceress.   
  
The key was solid steel, the apparently chromed to give it such a glinting, perfectly shiny look to it. The handle was worked in an old fashioned design, a beautiful web work of chromed steel shaped vaguely like a heart. At the end of each of the archaically designed vines of metal, glittered a piece of quartz crystal, and the former mercenary was positive that if the light hit it just the right way, the entire key would look as though it was made from rainbows. There was a keychain attached to the heart, as well, the keychain forming an elegantly crafted spider-web a single quartz crystal inset directly in the center of the web-- Seifer was positive it was stronger than it looked.   
  
The opposite end of the key was the traditional form of an archaic skeleton key, meant to be used on anything and everything. The only difference between a skeleton key and this one was the sheer size of it. Sora held the Key with his hand on the metal bar that ran vertically directly through the center of the 'heart', each side of said heart acting as a hand guard, the heart's bottom as the cross guards to a sword. The chromed metal that formed the rest of the three and a half foot long key had a peculiar look to it, and Seifer smirked in appreciation. The key wasn't 'round' as it appeared, it was tear-drop shaped, the 'pointy' part of the tear drop being a razor-edged blade that continued on through the forks and prongs of the key's end. A truly formidable weapon, even if it did look rather silly.   
  
"I used this," Sora's voice hauled the blonde back from his mental observations, "The creatures seem... afraid... of it for some reason. When I tried fighting them off before the first time I called it, I did no damage but as soon as I called this key to me..."   
  
"It's a blade," Seifer mused, reaching out to roll the thing over so that the bladed edge sat straight up.   
  
"Huh?" was Sora's intelligent answer, palm flat on what should have been the razor edge of the weapon. Seifer lifted a curious eyebrow, lightly brushing his fingers along the blade, after removing one of his black gloves. He raised his hands, showing Sora the thin, but bloody, lacerations left by the sword. Almost was positive that the slashes would sting like a bitch in the next few minutes, and was mentally berating himself for having done that. Not one of his more intelligent moves.   
  
"It cut you!" gaped the stunned youth, "It didn't cut me... why...?"   
  
"Maybe because you can 'call' it to yourself?" pondered the ex-Knight, "It might recognize only you as the person to wield it. Or maybe not; we don't know. All we know is that this... key-blade of yours hurts those shadow things."   
  
"Key-blade..." Sora's eyes, closed in thought, suddenly snapped open, "That's what the voice called it! A Keyblade!"   
  
"Voice?" a shiver worked it's way down Seifer's spine. The only voice he could ever remember hearing in his mind was the reason he was in Traverse Town in the first place.   
  
"You must think I'm crazy," Sora muttered, unaware of Seifer's own thoughts, "But there was this voice... just after I summoned the Keyblade and got rid of the shadow-things, it said 'Keyblade'. Before that, I heard it in a dream. It was telling me all sorts of stuff, but I can only hazily remember anything it said," his forehead developed a frown as he directed his thoughts inwards, attempting to remember something, anything, that had been mentioned to him.   
  
He need not have worried, because Seifer just shook his head, "S'all right, Kid. You can tell me more in the morning, alright? Right now, it's late, and the only thing I really want to do is sleep-- and quite frankly, you could use it. 'Night Kid."   
  
"Don't call me that!"   
  
---   
  
A day later, and Sora was dressed in the embarrassing combination of grey t-shirt and black and white vest that made him look like a girl. A smirking Seifer padded along beside him as they moved through the second district, away from Seifer's lonely apartment and towards the first district where all the shops and restaurants were located. The only thing that had gotten the boy-who-looked-like-a-chick out of the apartment was the promise of first getting clothing.   
  
It didn't keep him from being mortified that everyone thought he was Seifer's "cute little sister".   
  
And of course, Almasy thought it was just damned funny, and would occasionally drape an arm over the teenager's shoulders, or ruffle his hair the same way an older brother would for a younger sister who was being shown around for the first time. Sora hated it.   
  
"Why couldn't I have just worn my old clothing?" Sora grumbled, glaring evilly at the man who was currently making his life a living hell.   
  
"Because they're in something like eighteen pieces after all the shit you went through," was the logical reply, "Besides, you agreed to this."   
  
Sora scowled darkly at the ground, hands fiddling with the leather belt to which his wallet-chain-- and by proxy, his wallet-- was attached to. The ground was strange to him, having grown up in a land of wooden boardwalks, sand, rocks, and palm trees. The cool stone of the paved walks, the crunched together madness of this city, the lack of flora anywhere but in the first district, and of course the lack of any fauna made him distinctly uncomfortable. The clothing didn't help.   
  
"Here we are!" Seifer announced cheerfully, stopping at a shop that stood just beside the great gates into the first district, "Your one-stop shop for all your clothing needs!" At Sora's confused look, he elaborated, "Commercial."   
  
"What's a com-mer-shall?" Sora gave him a blank look.   
  
Seifer gave him a completely stunned look, then shook his head, "Damn, you must have lived somewhere real boring."   
  
"That was the reason Riku, Kairi and me were trying to go to other worlds," Sora explained, "We were bored on the island, and we wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere exciting... we got separated instead."   
  
"Cheer up," Seifer gave the boy an annoyed look, "You'll find them, just don't wallow in self-pity and guilt. That doesn't get you anywhere." Shaking his head, the mercenary pushed open the shop's door, chuckling at the fact that the bells hanging over their head didn't jingle with the door open, but electronically activated a stupid little song that announced visitors.   
  
The islander in Sora was in stunned awe. The shadows that hardened his heart were emotionless. So the only thing Sora outwardly showed was a somewhat muted curiosity at everything around him. So much clothing...   
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" wondered his guide and host, "find something you like, try it on, and we'll try to get it on credit." Seifer didn't have a hell of a lot of cash, after all was said and done. While Sora went about picking out clothing to try on, the older teenager went to haggle with the owner, Amos, who knew damned well that Seifer had almost no munny.   
  
What Sora eventually settled on utterly confused Seifer. Where in the world did this kid get his sense of fashion? First a ruby jumper, a white and black short-sleeved jacket, yellow boots and white gloves, and now this? Black pants that were a baggy flare towards the bottom, the edge hovering just above his new black and neon green boots-- that is to say that the boot itself was black but the ties were the abnormally brilliant shade neon green seemed to turn when paired with the mix of all colors-- and a white leather strap around his upper-thigh, sitting only about an inch below where leg met pelvis.   
  
His shirt was sleeveless and a deep ash grey, the stand-up collar a green to match his boots, the zipper that started just above his navel and done all the way up to his throat was decorated with three strips of matching green fabric. Beneath the sleeveless, he wore a red shirt that had black trim, and apparently buttoned up the front, considering the fact that the point the it came to in the front was split into two parts, the black going directly up the center. In the back, Seifer could see a matching point that dropped down to about mid-thigh. Sora had traded the white gloves with the circles on the back in for a pair of black leather fighting gloves, complete with chromed gauntlets of such an archaic fashion to match the Keyblade that was sitting on the couch back in Seifer's apartment.   
  
His arms were bare of all decoration, and once could just barely see the chain of his crown-shaped pendant being hidden beneath his grey and green shirt. He tugged at the undershirt, trying to smooth out whatever wrinkles and bunches were beneath the zipped up sleeveless, looking somewhat nervous, "Well?"   
  
"If that's what you want," Seifer sighed. This was going to cost him a pretty gil-- er, munny. He still wasn't used to this other currency. He had a huge pile of gil left over from the Sorceress War, and exchange was pretty good, but he didn't like to dip into his 'savings'. If he ever returned to his world, he'd like to have some cash to be able to spend on an apartment. Trudging back to the counter, he was rummaging around in the pockets of his black slacks, looking for some spare munny when it happened.   
  
The shopkeeper gave a strangled cry, leaping backwards as a dark spot appeared on his counter, raising up and forming into a black, bug-shaped form.   
  
Sora cursed surprisingly virulently, although Almasy should have expected him to be able to do it-- he was an islander, and they were practically all sailors-- before summoning the Keyblade into his hand. With a skill the former SeeD Cadet hadn't believed someone outside of Garden to be capable of, Sora leapt into the air towards the critter, key-shaped sword moving fluidly with him in a wild arcing attack. The thing had no idea what hit it, before it shattered into smaller shadows, vanishing into the floor.   
  
Sora propped the Keyblade onto his shoulder, blue eyes dark and wary, searching out other enemies. Where one appeared, another followed. The stunned Shop keep gibbered something about Sora 'keeping the clothes as a thank you' before he ran off, presumably to hide; Sora's silent prediction bursting forth into reality as others started to appear, congregating on the injured islander.   
  
A rather psychotic grin crossed the face of the white trench coat wearing mercenary standing beside his younger sort-of friend, and he reached behind him, beneath the jacket, to haul out his gunblade. Normally he didn't carry it with him just for merely shopping, but after what Sora had spoken of the night before, it was better to be safe than sorry. The weight of Hyperion in his hand had been sorely missed, and he gave a test swing to ensure that he hadn't lost any of his skill.   
  
He hadn't.   
  
Then the shadow-creatures were upon them, Sora diligently-- and silently-- cutting through them with only the occasional grunt of pain as he pulled sore muscles or bumped a bruise, or an exhilarated "yes!" crowed beneath his breath upon taking out a fair number of the beasts in a whirlwind of fierce attacks. Seifer, on the other hand, waded in, taunting the creatures and expertly wielding his dark blade in a dance of death; although he was careful not to unleash the power of his Limit Break, No Mercy, while within the shop.   
  
It wouldn't do to destroy the shop's merchandise and end up paying for it. Although he'd likely end up paying for the window that Sora had just shattered by throwing one of the shadow beasts through it.   
  
"Oops," the boy muttered, mostly unrepentant as he leapt through and tackled the beasts outside as the panicked midday shopping crowd screamed in terror, running rampant as they attempted to get away from the creatures. Seifer followed his companion's suit, leaping out through the broken window, and being treated to the singular sight of one of the creatures pouncing on a man, darkness extending to him.   
  
Then the man's eyes rolled back into his head, a glowing orb of sparkling red, navy and violet, but mostly orange, being torn from the unconscious man's body. The light arched over to the small creature, while the man collapsed and the shadows apparently devoured him. But the worst part was when the light filled the shadow creature... it grew. And as it grew, it twisted, reforming, reshaping into an almost knight-like appearance, although the black orb-like face decorated by less than sane eyes and an equally insane grin on it's face. Seifer hit the ground, changing course all but instantly, heading towards this knight-version of the shadow beasts, Hyperion's dark blade singing for the once familiar feel of death upon it's edge.   
  
Seifer did not disappoint, blade sinking home right between the wild eyes of the creature. It's brain-- or, at least, what likely passed for a brain in the cavern of it's skull-- pierced, it fell limp, sliding off the blade to vanish into shattered shadow shards once it hit the ground. Almasy didn't pause to marvel at this, instead whirling back into battle, fiercely attacking the creatures to prevent them from attack any one else.   
  
Most everyone had vacated the second district, and those that remained were those that watched, terrified, from the windows high above the conflict, praying for a miracle to keep the two fighters gliding through attacks and destroying the shadows that had come for their hearts. No one had any idea what they were, nor what they wanted; only that they were here, they were dangerous, and the two newest residents of Traverse Town could fight them off.   
  
And fight they did, both teenagers whirling, twirling and gliding about in a lethal dance to protect the people of the thriving city from that which would take the residents from their homes, take and take and take, and never return. Sora fought because of what had happened the last time these creatures had appeared. Seifer fought to reclaim that part of himself that he had lost to Ultimecia, lost to being used by the Sorceresses.   
  
With a final horrifying shriek, Hyperion tore into one of the creatures' sides, the Keyblade lancing down through it's skull. The two blades missed crashing into each other by millimeters, and their owners were left panting, staring coolly at one another. Then Seifer offered his fighting companion a smirk, "You didn't ruin your new clothing."   
  
Sora blinked out of his emotionless fighting mode, the shadows surrounding his own heart and soul slipping back and away as they found their brethren defeated, and their host now focused on more than the mindless slaughter of said brethren. Looking down, he fingered the smooth grey material, and his eyes glinted with amusement, "The tags said they'd been 'magically enhanced'. I guess that means it's resistant to damage."   
  
Seifer's own eyes glittered, laughter bubbling up into his throat, "And Amos just _gave_ you those cloths! Those critters actually did some good for you!"   
  
"We can't just keep calling them 'critters' and 'creatures'," Sora tapped his chin, "There's got to be something we can call them."   
  
The blonde frowned, scratching his chin, "Your right. C'mon, we can discuss this over lunch in the First District, okay?"   
  
"I suppose..." Sora propped his weapon up on his shoulder, while Seifer slipped Hyperion back into it's scabbard across the small of his back. The pair pushed through the doors into First District in silence, the cacophony startling after the silence of the deserted district they'd been in moments before echoing in their skulls. Seifer hopped off a ledge and into an alley, Sora stood at the lip, staring down incredulously at him, "What are you doing?"   
  
"Short cut," the blonde responded with a half-way psychotic grin, "It's faster than going around the Weapons Accessory Shop," and instead of waiting for a response, the larger male grabbed Sora around the ankle and yanked him off. The brown haired boy yelped, landing in Seifer's extended arms and scowling mightily. The blonde laughed, "We really have to stop meeting like this, Kid."   
  
"Cliché, Seifer, Cliché," he muttered as he was set down, before he stood right up on his tip-toes and smacked Seifer upside the head, "I've told you before not to call me 'Kid'!"   
  
"Whatever you say, Kid," chuckled the gunblade specialist, jogging backwards away from the youth he'd met barely fourteen hours earlier. Grumbling, said youth drifted after the trench coat wearing man, deciding to take the stairs in front of the Weapons Accessory Shop over jumping over another ledge like Seifer. There was a small outdoor cafe, where the two males dropped into some empty seats and silently ran over the menus left at the table.   
  
Within minutes, their orders had been taken, and they were left staring out over the central square of the First District, the doors to the Third District glaringly huge against the far wall. Sora had dropped the Keyblade from his shoulder, resting it against the table and his thigh, eyes distant, "They're strange, aren't they?"   
  
"Huh?" So Seifer wasn't exactly on the ball at that moment. He blamed it on his stomach. He was _really_ hungry.   
  
"Those shadow things," Sora looked away from the far door, towards his companion, "They're pack animals, but they don't come to protect one another. They're tough as nails when you're fighting them, but shatter like glass when they've been defeated. They're ruthless, icy, heartless creatures that feed upon their enemies..."   
  
Seifer blinked, "Heartless? Where did you get that one, Kid? They're like animals, and animals definitely don't have hearts."   
  
"So they're heartless," Sora gave him a rueful grin, "No hearts makes them heartless."   
  
"I suppose that's their new name, now?"   
  
Sora paused, tilting his head to one side and listened to the darkness in his own heart. Seifer's eyes bored into his skull, wondering what was up with his friend, before Sora nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess that's what they are. They are the Heartless."   
  
"Great," drawled Almasy, "and I thought 'Grat' was a stupid name."   
  
---   
  
For some unknown reason, the Heartless failed to return after their beat down by Sora and Seifer. The two blade-wielders turned their attention to scouring Traverse Town for any sign of Riku or Kairi, but by the end of the second week, all hope Sora had once carried seemed ready to leech out of him. It was depressing to know that he had no idea where his oldest friend and his not-so-secret crush had vanished to.   
  
Depression settled in, and it was all Seifer could do to yank his young housemate up by the boot straps and force him to focus on the here and now. To do so, Seifer set up a horrid ritual of training-- wake up before the sun rose, balance practice along the high railings of the hotel in the Second District until breakfast. After the most important meal of the day it was practice of moves and attacks until lunch, wherein one of the other residents of Seifer's apartment block would call them in for a fresh cooked meal. After lunch it was a painful session of fighting to the best of their abilities. Slowly, but surely, Sora's skill began to increase by small increments.   
  
It likely would have continued in such a pattern had it not been for the events at the end of the third month Sora had been living in Traverse Town.   
  
---   
  
They had just finished gulping down Miss Rose's stew-- Rose being Seifer's next door neighbor in the apartment block-- and quizzing each other on what exactly they thought the meat chunks had been made of this time. They had been slightly salty, and seriously tasted of water, but neither male had been able to identify whatever it had been that had once been the living part of their meal. Not that it mattered all that much, either. It was just something to do.   
  
The tremendous crash outside the doors had the pair bolting out Rose's door, weapons in hand, and flipping over the railing from second story to first. Tense and wary, the twosome let their sharp gazes pick over the center square of the Second District. Nothing.   
  
Then what was all the-- all thoughts came to a screeching halt as they heard another crashing noise, and finally got their look at what had been making so much noise. Annoyed, Seifer stood up from his defensive crouch, "Marx! Marx what the _hell_ do you think you're going?!"   
  
A head poked out of the 'bubble' section atop the strangely shaped machine that had apparently been bouncing on the other side of the Third District Doors, finally getting over and crashing into the ground. The pale haired mechanic laughed nervously, "Er... Hey Seifer... Sora..."   
  
"Marx..." Sora groaned, shaking his head and letting go of his Keyblade; it vanished before it hit the ground. Rubbing his forehead, the fourteen year old wondered what exactly he had done in a past life to deal with the bullshit that was being piled up on top of him.   
  
"What _is_ this thing?" wondered the blonde gunblader, his black leather encased hand settling on the smooth blue hull of Marx's latest machine.   
  
"Don't really know," Marx responded, "A group of survivors came in in it, and asked me to fix everything that was wrong with it."   
  
And abruptly, both teenagers muttered in eerie unison, "Survivors?"   
  
"You remember those black things from a few months ago?" Marx asked needlessly-- of course they remembered, they were the ones to battle them, "Well, we got this small family who says they survived the things wiping out their world. Now, I don't know if I should believe them but--"   
  
"You should," Sora interrupted, head bowed, wild brown bangs shadowing his eyes, and giving him a distinctly demonic cast, "I've seen it first hand. C'mon Seifer; let's go talk to these survivors."   
  
Marx watched in total confusion as the pair bolted for the doors to the First District, wherein they could get information from this group of survivors of the Heartless. Sora was also hoping for a more reliable method of traveling the passages between the realms than what he and Seifer had used. After all, Sora had been unconscious and sucked into an uncontrollable portal. Seifer had been-- and still was, apparently-- intimately connected to the 'thing' he'd called Time Compression. He'd used the general lack of any real passage of time to move between realities.   
  
Neither method was considered safe or stable, which is why neither male was all to happy with trying out said methods. So they searched out the small family. They didn't get much information from them, but the family seemed content to live out what remained of their lives in Traverse Town, and offered their 'gummi ship' to the two warriors. Seifer had been leery of leaving the city unprotected, but Sora had wanted to set out first thing. The argument would have continued on, but Rose had pointedly told them point blank that the swords on her walls were not just decorations, and she was well skilled in the usage of all of them.   
  
Which meant Sora was positive that he would be the one who got to decide what was going to happen. Seifer only got his delaying of take off due to the fact that Marx had yet to completely fix all the systems that were active within the ship.   
  
Sora had gained a bounce to his step that had been missing for months, and a sparkle to his eyes. The darkness that had been slowly enveloping his heart and soul was pushed back, fought with a fierceness not seen since the battle in which his island had been destroyed. This version of Sora was ready, willing, and so close to being able to travel to the other worlds to find Riku and Kairi, not to mention understand just what, exactly, it was that had destroyed his world, his life.   
  
This would be the adventure of a lifetime, he just knew it.   
  
---   
  
End Chapter   
  
Author's Notes:   
  
While this is longer than most of my other chapters (at 50kb) it's still shorter than what I was aiming for. However, I don't want to jump into the beginning of Sora's Amazing Journey through hell in this first chapter, that really just sets up the back story.   
  
If you hadn't figured it out yet, my idea was that instead of Destiny Islands essentially being the last world to be devoured by the Heartless (since Sora stops them from doing the same in the other worlds he goes to), it is instead the first world destroyed.   
  
Why did I chose Seifer over Squall? Seifer just made more sense-- he's running from the persecution of being the Sorceress' Knight back in his home world. What was better than going to a completely different world. And that brown haired chick in the First District of Traverse Town says that people come to the city to escape bad pasts and whatnot right at the beginning of the game. Seemed perfectly logical.   
  
In any case, while I loathe Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Minnie, I'm rather fond of the triplet ducks and the rest of the Disney characters that appear in the game (excluding all the characters in the Nightmare before Christmas, and Phil) so expect them to show up. Sora _will_ go to their worlds, and there's likely to be changes as to how each adventure goes, I'll try to stick to the original ones.   
  
What will truly be different is Sora's adventures to realms outside of the ones in the game. He _will_ be visiting the realms of other games, of television shows, and of anime and manga. Since there is no Maleficent (yet), there's no need for anyone to be gathering the Princesses of Heart, that part's pretty much completely axed. Kairi is out there. Riku is out there.   
  
I'm also fond of the 'V' pairing. What is the 'V' pairing? It means that Riku is infatuated with Sora, but Sora loves Kairi. Kairi may or may not love Sora. She doesn't really like Riku. Sora could, quite possibly, be turned to loving Riku, but for now he's stuck on Kairi. As it is, this will be a long, drawn out, and very likely dark version of a Kingdom Hearts 'What If' Alternate Universe. And I do have some serious plot twists in mind.   
  
If you hadn't figured it out yet, this story takes precedence over the Identity Series. I don't really _try_ with the IS; it just flows out. With Route Unknown, I find myself very carefully thinking things through. With Route Unknown, I basically try to write 80kb of text before Author's Notes, and try to keep the reader interested. I hope this has interested you.   
  
If not, then I suppose that's just the way things have to be, non?   
  
- Li Xiang  
The Goddess of Band-Aids 


	2. Chapter Two

This fic is still only archived at Keyblades Crossed and Fanfiction.net. It better not be anywhere else without my permission (I'll probably say yes if you ask ^__^)  
  
I know some of you are probably annoyed that I've seemingly removed Cloud, Yuffie, Squall/Leon, Aerith, Ansem and Sephiroth from the story. I wouldn't worry about it to much. I never said Hollow Bastion wasn't going to be in this story. It will be, although not likely the way any of you think it will be. Ahahahahaha ^__^  
  
-  
  
Route Unknown  
Chapter Two  
Li Xiang  
  
-  
  
Rose swiped a strand of ebon hair out of her eyes, glaring at the two boys she'd unofficially adopted. First it had only been Seifer-- poor, broken, angsting Seifer Almasy-- and then, a few months later, the guilt-ridden, harried Sora who seriously needed a distraction from life. She hadn't really thought she'd get attached to them; she'd just thought she'd jump in and out of their lives to keep the pair from wallowing in their guilt-- be it killer's or survivor's-- or going off the deep end and into a berserk mode. She'd seen it happen before, with people who held less on their shoulders than the fourteen and the nineteen year old pair.   
  
As it was, she _had_ gotten attached to them, and the thirty-something woman was officially in over protective mode as she hovered around the site of where 'her' boys would be taking their leave of Traverse Town, as well as the world the sprawling city occupied. She didn't think either one had been outside the city before, but then, most out-worlders didn't leave the confines of Traverse Town. Unsurprisingly, considering that outside the brick and mortar city was land unending, villages, towns, and tribes, none of which actually knew about other worlds. There was the occasional big city out there, as well, but again, they had no knowledge of out-worlders.  
  
But that didn't really matter at the moment. What mattered was seeing Seifer and Sora off.   
  
The pair exchanged exasperated stares as Rose stood over them, her imposing six and a half feet of black-haired, violet eyed, navy-armored amazonian build lecturing on keeping safe and healthy. Sora finally rolled his eyes.  
  
"Relax, Miss Rose!" he laid a hand upon her arm, looking up at her with placating features, although there was the faint spark of mischief in his eyes that had slowly been growing as both the ebon tressed woman and blonde haired gunblader helped him realize that he wasn't alone. An impish smile came to his lips, "It's not like we're going to go _die_ or anything!" And he ducked under her swat, laughing and running for the gummi ship that had been gifted to he and his house-mate. He _really_ didn't want to get hit by the woman-- as she had demonstrated not that long ago, she was _very_ skilled with her swords, and she was _very_ strong. Must have had something to do with being a former guard of this world's king, before she'd vanished into Traverse Town.  
  
Seifer smirked at the irritated woman, "Right, like the Kid said; we're not gunna die. We've both got to much to do before we kick the bucket!"  
  
"Shut up, Seifer," Rose poked his nose, "You keep Sora safe, you got me? If I hear that you let him get hurt on this wild goose chase of yours--"  
  
"It's not a goose chase," Seifer frowned at her, "We're going to Bastion, and we're going to get help, and then we're going to beat the shit out of Sora's Heartless."  
  
"You know, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you call him by his name."  
  
The blonde snorted, "Don't get used to it. And don't tell him, either. The Kid doesn't need a swelled head."  
  
"I think you're the one with the swelled head, Almasy," she chastised, eyes glinting with mirth as she caught sight of Sora making faces at them from the gummi ship's cockpit window. Such a child that boy was. It was to bad he had to grow up so quickly what with the destruction of his world... "In any case, you two had better get a move on it."  
  
"Yeah yeah, I'm goin' I'm goin'," Seifer drawled, sauntering away, white trench coat billowing almost playfully around him, and Rose wondered, not for the first time, why the immaculately clean coat had such rough edges. Rips, tears, and small holes lined the bottom edge, the collar, and the cuffs of the sleeves. It was almost a saintly white, but with the tattered edges and torn hems, it made the nineteen year old appear to be a world weary man, fighting to be what he could-- what he _should_-- be.   
  
She closed violet eyes, and took a deep breath as she heard the engines engage, and then the two teenagers lifted off into the air with the ship, heading straight up. Before they were even out of the range of the tops of the apartments crowding Traverse Town, they had vanished. If it were a cloaking system, or a jump out of their world, their reality, Rose didn't have a clue.  
  
All she knew was that her boys were gone, and would be gone for a long time.   
  
Then she felt something coming up behind her, and she was spinning around, fluidly removing the one sword from her belt with one hand, and the sword strapped across her back with the other. The Blade mistress' face blanked.   
  
Seifer had been right.   
  
The Heartless hadn't attacked because the two who had previously defeated them had still resided in the city. Looked like Rose would have some work to do, after all. Not that she minded. She had rather missed the thrill of adrenalin in her veins as she fought tooth and nail. Once it had been for God, King, and Country. Now it was for her boys, her people, her world.   
  
---  
  
"So where's your world supposed to be, any way?"  
  
Seifer glanced over at the brunette who was staring out the window at the strange warp they were in as the gummi ship drew them from Traverse Town and out into the realm in-between worlds.   
  
"No idea."   
  
Sora gave his friend an exasperated look, and Seifer scowled mightily, "Come off it, Kid. I used an unstable time-jump to get to Traverse Town when I was trying to commit suicide. I don't have any idea how far away we are-- and it's not like _you_ know where your island is."  
  
Sora snorted, "Of course I do. It's _gone_ Seifer, and don't call me 'Kid'."  
  
The scarred man winced. He'd forgotten that Sora didn't have a world to return to should he ever want to go back. Seifer did-- it was only a matter of finding it. He was pretty sure he was going the right way to get back to it, as well. He could still feel the darkness of his former mistress humming in his soul, and knew that the psychotic Sorceress came from the war-torn future of Bastion, his home world. Since she, technically, wasn't born yet, but had made him her Knight, forever and through eternity, he could still feel a strong connection to the world she would be born upon. All it took was following a vague sense of 'home'.   
  
"You think this get's radio?" Sora broke the silence after several moments, poking at the 'dashboard' of the gummi ship. Almasy chuckled; that had been something Sora had fallen absolutely head over heels for when he'd learned of it. Sure, they had music back on the Destiny Islands, but nothing like the radio. Or the instruments played on the radio-- he'd never heard an electric guitar, or a keyboard until coming to Traverse Town. It had been a welcome distraction from the harsh truth of reality.   
  
"Don't know, maybe," and the two males began to poke at said dashboard, trying to see if there was a radio, or a disc player-- Seifer was hopping for the latter, since he had a whole bunch of discs he'd had stuffed in his trench coat when he'd attempted suicide all those long months ago. He really liked those discs, and the power source of his portable player had died, and it hadn't exactly ever been seen in Traverse Town before.   
  
Generally, one knew not to mess around with the instruments showing them their flight path, and what they were supposed to be doing, but Seifer had never been one to follow the rules-- he made them-- nor had he ever been big on common sense-- how he'd ended up as Ultimecia's Knight. Sora, of course, had come from a much more primitive Island-- despite the fact that they had a thriving clothing industry; mostly due to the fact that on the main island the ratios of female to male was three to one-- and didn't even know what a dashboard on a car was, let alone all the sensitive equipment for a machine like a gummi ship.   
  
So it should come to no surprise that the pair managed to mess something up.   
  
Seifer, being seated as he had been the one driving, was jerked back into his chair, at the same time Sora went flying and slammed into the fair wall. Light flared around their ship, and Seifer clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut to keep from being blinded by said light. Sora, who was upside down, with his face planted into the wall, didn't have to worry about it, since his retina were most assuredly facing away from the cockpit windows.  
  
When the light faded-- and Sora had awoken from his pressure-induced nap-- the brown haired, key wielding teenager blinked out at the world they were in orbit of, "That's Bastion??"  
  
"Not hardly," Seifer grunted, trying to stand up, and finding his legs seemed to be made of jell-o, "Now that was some trip!"  
  
Sora snickered, "Nice face-plant, Seifer. Since that's not Bastion, I guess we're going to skip over it, right?"  
  
"Wrong," Seifer shook his head, "We're almost out of fuel. I don't know what the hell we did, but somehow we drained the ship's tanks, and all we've got left is enough to go back to Traverse Town."  
  
"Oh..." Sora set his hands on his hips, staring at the ground with a furrowed brow as he thought through their options, "I guess this means we're going down to see if they have anything we could use for fuel?"  
  
"You got it, Kid. If we don't find anything, it's back to Traverse Town, and this time we bring extra fuel."  
  
"Stop calling me 'Kid', dammit!"  
  
Seifer chuckled, settling back into the pilot's chair, "Whatever you say, Kid."  
  
"I hate you..."  
  
"You say that a lot."  
  
---  
  
There was nothing quite like the feeling of free fall, Seifer thought, somewhat irritably as he and Sora rocketed down the tunnel that had opened right under their feet almost as soon as they had left their gummi ship. Seifer was annoyed. Sora was trying to see the bottom, and gauge how hurt he'd be. He was well versed in falling from heights-- like the roof of his mother's home, or from the rope in the cove on the Destiny Islands, or from being shoved off the side of the boat at the seashore by Tidus or... well, he fell a lot. Most of the time not his fault.  
  
To the surprise of both males, their decent began to slow as the floor came into sight. Confused and wary, Seifer had Hyperion in hand, even as his feet brushed the floor and he settled into a defensive stance. Sora's Keyblade had shimmered into being just as quickly, neither teenager all that trusting of their surroundings. After all, they were on a world they'd never been to before, and had no idea what to expect.  
  
Most assuredly not a large, walking talking rabbit to rush past them babbling, "I'm late, I'm late!" over and over again, interspersed with the occasional, "The Queen will have my head!"  
  
"...shall we...?" wondered the fourteen year old, as Seifer returned Hyperion to her scabbard in the small of his back.  
  
"Why not?" wondered the blonde, and the two teenagers went followed the passage of the talking rabbit. The environment about them was strange and confusing, a twisting, turning irregular shaped world to walk through. The scenery annoyed the nineteen year old, but the fourteen year old accompanying him thought it interesting. He'd never seen anything quite like it before!  
  
And then there were the multiple doors that opened on their own, inviting the two men into the room. Sora had been half expecting the door to slam shut on them, and to find themselves locked in the next room with no way of escape.  
  
This, of course, did not happen, and Sora had to wonder if he'd been watching to many horror movies. They were just so, so, so interesting, though! He'd never seen anything like television before arriving in Traverse Town. What did happen, once in the room, was quite a surprise in and of itself. The rabbit-- who was now, very, very small, rushed through a door with a golden handle, before it slammed shut.   
  
Snorting with derision, Seifer laid himself out on the far to small bed laying against one wall, "Wonder how mister bunny there got so small."  
  
Sora, of whom had been kneeling down and staring at the door handle and wondering the exactly same thing, jumped back with a yelp when the handle responded to Seifer's idle question.  
  
"You're simply just to big," the handle sounded rather annoyed, "and must you be so loud? I was trying to sleep."  
  
"Uh... right..." the doorknob wasn't talking, Sora informed himself firmly. It's just someone behind the doorknob, and the keyhole is not moving like it's a mouth. Nope, no siree.  
  
Seifer, who had seen stranger things in his lifetime, raised a cynical eyebrow, "Wow, a magical morphing rabbit."  
  
"Don't be stupid," sniffed the golden handle, "he used the blue potion on the table over there." And what both teenagers had assumed to be very oddly designed linoleum, rose and to become and honest to bloody god three dimensional, sturdy white table.  
  
With a laugh, Seifer stood, accidentally kicking the bed as he did so. A blonde eye-brow arched over blue-green eyes as the bed sunk into the wall and became a painting of a sort, opposite to the recently revealed table. How... very, very, weird. He was getting the feeling that this entire world was looney, "Want to try it, Kid?"  
  
Sora, who was laid out on his back so that he didn't have to look at the door handle, and could easily pretend it wasn't actually talking, looked up at his partner, "Uh... I guess so..." it wasn't like he hadn't eaten things without knowing what they were before.  
  
He was ignoring the fact that most of the things he'd eaten had been eaten only when dared to by his missing, silver tressed best friend.   
  
So he took the jar with the blue liquid in it from his companion, and downed a good portion of it in one swig. Pale grey smoke swirled up and around him, and the teenager panicked, dropping the potion on the ground, the glass shattering all around the rapidly shrinking islander. Blue eyes darted this way and that as he went from being five feet tall, to being five inches tall. It was a terrifying experience to see the world suddenly increase in size around him.  
  
And then the pale smoke was gone, and he was let among the shards of glass, blinking warily. Thick, black boots came to a halt several feet away-- it seemed like miles to him-- and then Seifer was kneeling down, staring at his friend, "Well now, this was unexpected."  
  
"You're still big!" Sora yelped, inwardly thankful that his voice didn't sound high and squeaky like a mouse's... or, at least, he hadn't thought it had changed until he saw Seifer wince, and stick a black gloved pinky into his ear, to pop his ear drums.  
  
"Nice and high there, Kid," his voice was like a rumble of thunder to the tiny teenager, "Did you have to break the bottle?"  
"I'm sorry!" wailed the teenager, completely missing the fact that Seifer had had to jamb his hands over his ears to keep them from exploding at the high pitch Sora was screeching with his eyes clenched shut.  
  
"Calm down!" Seifer bellowed, and Sora went flying end over end for several feet, crashing into the inside of the fireplace within the room. Seifer eyed said fireplace with irritation. Why didn't anything make sense in this bloody world? Oh right, it was designed by fucking _lunatics_! He could feel his temple jump with his annoyance, and with an exasperated sigh, he settled into one of the brown leather arm chairs.   
  
Fingers came up to rub at the scar between his brow, in a familiar gesture of annoyance, "Kid."  
  
"Ye-yeah?" stuttered the tiny youth. He wasn't in the mood to get squashed for shouting at Seifer to stop calling him 'Kid'.  
  
"There's probably more of that junk in the other room," he motioned to the closed and locked door, and the entrance right beside it, that had once been hidden by the bed Seifer had kicked, "Just bring some in here, and I'll join you at being a mini-me, alright?"  
  
"Okay," Sora nodded, slowly, warily. The last time he'd been alone to do something, his entire world had been destroyed. It was only right that he should be fearing being sent off on his own. While Seifer would, normally, have noticed this, Sora's current size prevented any such insight.   
  
Nervously, Sora passed through the gateway into the next room, hand clenched around the hilt of his Keyblade, and sweat dribbling down his neck into his grey and green jacket. He _really_ didn't want to be alone, but there was no other choice. _He_ had been the one to break the potion's bottle, after all was said and done.  
  
It was like stepping into another world. One moment he'd been in a room decorated in pastels, and the next he was in a grassy field surrounded by green hedges that towered over his head. His eyes practically fell out of his head as he realized that the so called men standing by the entrance were actually _playing_cards_. Playing cards! It was unbelievable!   
  
"Court is now in session!"  
  
Sora jumped, startled out of staring at the playing card men, as the talking rabbit's voice carried out across the small green grove he'd found himself in. He moved forwards, to stand just inside the hedge-gated entrance to the larger part of the small field, and stared in no little awe. At the far end of the field was what appeared to be almost a courtroom-- the judge's... Sora couldn't remember the name of where the judge sat, and thus settled on 'box'; was large and wide, with an equally large and wide woman dressed in a white, red and black heart-motif outfit. Her pudgy face was settled into a deep scowl, black hair held out of her face by her absurd crown.   
  
"I... I'm on trial?" the stuttered question hauled Sora's attention onto the area that served as the court's floor. He couldn't see the face of the girl, but her backside was certainly pretty. Golden blonde hair fell to mid-back, dancing over a soft sky-blue dress complete with crinoline. White knee socks and classy black dress shoes decorated her feet, "But... but why?"  
  
The rabbit warbled again, although there was no answer in his words, "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!"  
  
This was a queen? She certainly failed to look like any queen Sora had seen on the television, or like the visage that Rose had proclaimed to be queen of the world Traverse Town was built upon. They had been elegant, beautiful women bedecked in jewels and finery. This red-faced, oversized almost-not-female did not fit the image of royalty Sora had built into his mind.   
  
"The girl is the culprit," even her voice was harsh and grating, "There's no doubt about it. And the reason is..." she paused momentarily, and Sora-- not to mention the blonde girl!-- awaited her words, "Because I say so, that's why!"  
  
"That's no reason!" the girl yelped, and Sora found himself agreeing. What sort of reasoning was that? Well, sure if the woman really _was_ a queen she could say something like that, but he was pretty sure queens were supposed to do what was best for the country. That's what Rose had told him. Coming from a village on an island that was essentially 'Marxist'-- or at least, that's what Rose and Seifer had called it when he had told them of how things had worked back on the Island-- he was still a bit fuzzy on the whole royalty and nobility thing.  
  
"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" The queen looked rather bored and uninterested, actually.  
  
"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" trilled the blonde, "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so... so... so mean!"  
  
"SILENCE!" bellowed the queen, and Sora was really starting to wonder if it would be a good idea to jump in with his own opinion, or if that would just make things worse. And he still had to get Seifer down to his size! The Queen of Hearts continued in her rage, "You dare defy me!?"  
  
Furious was the least of the words to be used to describe the red-faced woman seated in the judge's box, and her words thundered over the so-called 'court' with finality, "The court finds the defendant... guilt as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart--" Her heart?! Well, _that_ certainly sounded familiar!-- "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"  
  
As the card-guards started towards the 'guilty' girl, and she cried out her protests, Sora came to a decision. He'd just have to go through with it, and take the consequences as they came. The brown haired, grey-garbed teenager sucked in a breath and charged into the Queen's Court, "Hold it right there!"  
  
"Who are you?!" thundered the already _very_ annoyed queen, "How dare you interfere with my court...!"  
  
"But I know who the _real_ culprit is!" Sora threw all he had into his irresistible Puppy-Dog Eyes. Neither Kairi nor Riku had ever been able to deny him anything when he used them. Hell, he could even get Wakka to put his blitzball down for a few minutes when he used them-- and that was something no one else had ever accomplished. The Queen took one look, and was wrapped around his little finger, "She's not the one you're looking for."  
  
Sora had to give the Queen some points for effort. She was certainly doing an admirable job at trying to maintain her pride and not capitulate immediately to his wishes, "Have you any proof?"  
  
"Er... no, not really," Sora scratched at the back of his head, and the Queen had to resist the urge to coo and call him cute. That was _not_ something she would do-- no matter what! She opened her mouth to condemn him, and he scrambled for his next words, "But I'm sure I could find some!"  
  
Imperceptibly she chewed her lip, then nodded once, "Very well. Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence! Fail and it's off with both your heads! Report back here once you've found all your evidence." Before he could even wonder what would happen to the blonde in the meantime, the cards had hauled her off and into a gold gilded cage to the right of the Judge's Box where the queen was settled.   
  
Great, just great, Sora thought bitterly. Not only do I have to find a way to make Seifer my size, but I have to find evidence that this Alice girl is innocent and it's really the Heartless who tried to steal her heart. Won't this be fun.   
  
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he rolled his eyes and spun in a circle, looking for an out. There was the entrance he had come through, but he still had to find Seifer's own minimizing potion. So that left... the big black space that hadn't been there a moment before. Or had it? It was just a gaping space of emptiness in one of the hedge walls-- was it even a door? Eh, only one way to know...  
  
Hesitantly, he approached the 'hole', and hesitantly, he crossed the threshold, Keyblade summoned to a nervous hand.   
  
And then the darkness made sense as he found himself ensorcelled within a gloomy forest of giant plants. He was sure they wouldn't seem to large had he been his regular height but at only five inches tall, it was rather frightening. Sora was barely two steps in when movement caught the corner of his eye.   
  
Whirling around, he found himself soon coming to the same conclusion Seifer had already made. This world was absolutely crazy. There was a cat on the rather large stump beside him. Or rather, there was a cat's body, standing on it's own head. The feline was surprisingly pink, with lavender stripes. He had the feeling that whomever had created that cat had been smoking up something awful.   
  
"Who are you?" the Keyblader wondered, fingers clenching nervously around the hilt of his blade. The cat's lips curved into an off balanced grin.  
  
"Who, indeed...? Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"  
  
He knew...? This cat knew, and hadn't bothered to tell anyone? "H-hey! If you know who's guilty, then tell me!" It would certainly help and he could get back to making Seifer five inches tall. At least if they were the same size as everyone else they could get some fuel or something...  
  
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers-- but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat... all lie in darkness."  
  
"What the...?" a riddle? A god be damned _riddle_? How the hell would _that_ help him? Why didn't people-- or cats, as the case appeared to be-- give straight answers?!  
  
"They've already left the forest," the feline purred as he vanished into nothingness, "I won't say which exit. There is little evidence, some simple to find, some not so simple. To find them all is to get a reward."  
  
Sora's eyebrow twitched rather spastically, "Oh yes, _that_ helps..."  
He jumped when the cat's voice rippled from everywhere around him, "A big seed makes small."  
  
"A big seed?" Oooooooh-kay... the cat was absolutely nutters. Right, then. Sora's eyes swept around the area, somewhat unwilling to move away from his comfortably safe haven. He would have just stood there staring, until he noticed the large brown seed upon a tangled mass of leaves and branches. Eyes focused on that spot, he began to move towards it, searching for a way up; searching for a way to get up to that seed. The Cheshire Cat's final riddle didn't seem all that hard to figure out.  
  
It was getting past all the Heartless that had popped up as soon as he moved away from the entrance that was the problem.  
  
---  
  
Tired and bruised, Sora had finally made it up onto the branches that held the seed, and was currently trying to catch his breath laying beside it. The thing had to be half his current height, at the least, which would make it a bit of a problem to move. Oh well, he'd gotten this far. No point in giving up now, eh?   
  
With a pain filled groan, the grey-garbed youth rolled over onto his stomach, pushed himself up onto his knees then rocked back onto his feet and stood. He was positive that he was going to murder whomever thought up the idea of Heartless in the first place. Stupid evil shadow-made things. Popped up at _the_ worst moments possible, they did.   
  
He settled his hands comfortably onto the large seed, focusing his will. A deep breath was followed by a hard shove, and the seed tumbled down off the branches to the ground below. Sora bit his lip and desperately hoped that the seed didn't shatter on impact. His breath whooshed out between his lips as it landed-- there was a slight crack, but it wasn't broken-broken.   
  
Thus, he followed it's path down, landing in a deep knee bend just beside it. The cushy over-sized fallen leaves and broken grass that made up the ground he stood on having made the landing even easier than he had hoped for. Warily, he began pushing the seed through to the other end; back to the entrance he had come in. Just because he had painstakingly almost killed himself-- repeatedly-- to rid himself of any Heartless in his path didn't mean there weren't any there. It didn't mean that they weren't awaiting the perfect moment to attack. Being preoccupied with the seed would have made it that perfect moment, too, had Sora not been able to split his attention.  
  
Splitting attention as such had come through the painful lessons of Tidus, Selphie and Wakka as they triple-teamed him.   
  
But it seemed as though he had gotten them all, rolling the seed out through the dark entrance-- shouldn't it be light? Oh, what did it matter on this world?-- and back into the hedge-ringed grove that settled as a court house for the overbearing Queen. Sora could feel her curious eyes on his back as he rolled the seed over to the hedge-gate. Then he moved around the seed and began to roll it out of the main grove. It only took a couple rolls to get it through the secondary grove and through the hole in the wall that lead him back into the homestead.   
  
Seifer appeared to be sleeping.  
  
Annoyed, Sora left the seed near the table and ran the distance between seed and leather armchairs. Almasy needed a waking up present-- it wasn't fair that the blonde got to sleep while he'd been fighting fiercely to get the seed that would shrink his partner down to his size. At least... that's what he hoped the Cat's riddle had meant. If it didn't, well, he'd just blame that stupid feline for not telling him exactly what to do.   
  
Like a little brown mouse, the brown haired teenager scrambled up the side of the leather chair, eyes narrowed with mischief. He did so love getting on Seifer's nerves-- it was almost like getting on Riku's. Which made him momentarily sad as he remembered that his oldest friend was missing. He was pretty sure the other wasn't dead-- Sora had survived the cloying darkness that had enveloped them on the Island, and Riku was infinitely stronger than he was, so it was only obvious that he should be able to survive. Kairi... he didn't have any idea what had happened to his crush, but something inside told him, point blank, that she was still alive. Lost, but alive.  
  
Then he shook his head free of any such thoughts, grabbing hold of the white silk of Seifer's trench coat, and hauling himself up to ear level. Bad, bad Almasy. You're a mercenary, he thought somewhat sadistically, you're supposed to know I'm here... with that, he sucked in a breath and _screamed_.  
  
"SHIT!" roared Almasy, jerking straight up, and knocking Sora from his collar. Ocean eyes wide and panicked, he was on his feet with Hyperion in hand before he'd even realized he was awake. The tiny brunette laying, dazed, on the chair groaning in a high pitched, mousey-squeak, and Seifer blinked down at him several times. A black gloved finger came up to pop his eardrum, "Dammit Kid..."  
  
Shaking himself out of his daze, Sora grinned up at his friend, "I brought you a seed."  
  
"SeeD?" wondered the former mercenary. Had the kid actually...? No, wait, he could see the large brown seed that the younger male was pointing at, laying beneath the table, "What's this supposed to do?"  
  
"The Cat said it 'makes small'. I think it's like the potion," he offered in a squeaky voice that made Seifer want to grind his teeth. A bit hesitantly, the blonde reached down and picked up the seed. After a moment's investigation, he shrugged, brushing it off on his blue-black vest-- gods knew his trench coat was so dirty he'd probably die from wiping whatever was on it onto the seed-- and then popped the whole thing into his mouth.   
  
A most assuredly disgusting taste flooded his mouth, bitter and acrid. He desperately wanted to spit out the vile seed, but forced himself to choke it down. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd tasted worse before, during his SeeD Cadet training, and had forced that down as well.   
  
It wasn't until the disgusting seed was fully down his throat, and sitting heavily in his stomach that he began to shrink. It was a decidedly uncomfortable feeling-- the feeling that he _knew_ there should have been pain as his body compressed, but he could feel nothing more than being pleasantly numb. Uncomfortable was an understatement. And then it was gone, and he only had the after-taste of that vile seed in his mouth, and he was a grand total of six inches tall.   
  
He was rather grateful that he was still taller than his brown haired companion.   
  
The other jumped off the chair, landing lightly, and in such a way that Seifer briefly wondered how well the teenager would have preformed as a SeeD, or even a member of SOLDIER-- which was actually the Estharian predecessor to SeeD, what Cid Kramer had based his idea of Garden and SeeD upon. But such thoughts were quickly banished, as Heartless began to form out of nothingness. Hyperion and the Keyblade in hand, the pair glanced at each other before racing off to do battle.   
  
Sora was _really_ beginning to hate these thrice damned creatures.  
  
Eyes narrowed sharply, it seemed as though a haze settled over them. Crouched over, his head swung slowly, from side to side. Then one of those funny, flying red Heartless shot a burst of flames at him. He bared his teeth in agony, before the animalistic fury that had driven him back in Traverse Town burned within his veins again and he launched himself into the air with a violent slash of his Keyblade. Even as he fell he swung his blade again, and the red Heartless shattered into pieces with a startled 'eep'-like noise.   
  
More began to appear around him, crowding in, desperate to get their ethereal shadowed claws into him, to pull his heart from his body, to destroy the husk that remained and add another to their ranks... and Sora fought them off viscously. He had slacked off in fighting them on the Island. He had let them run free instead of destroying all that had been in his path back then...  
  
The shadow within him drew strength from his negative emotions, feeding itself and reaching spidery claws out to curl around the heart that lay in his breast. It would not allow outsiders to take that which belonged to it, and fought off the encroaching darkness just as fiercely as it's host. It would take Sora's heart in time, but for now it lay in wait, hiding unless it sensed danger to it's own plans. The darkness rarely planned, but when it did they were plans of magnificence and destruction. Such was the way of the darkness.  
  
Sora felt a cold shroud fall over his mind, steeling his heart. He could feel Seifer... an area of difference... of shadow and destruction, but muted, contained, tainted with time... and he knew his partner had no need of his help. Seifer Almasy could take care of himself. For now, Sora had to fight to defend himself. Fight to destroy his opponents.  
  
And then they were gone. Sora stood, panting from exertion, eyes glazed, head swinging back and forth, search for another enemy. Seifer stood from his own crouch, slipping Hyperion back beneath his trench coat. The movement caught Sora's attention, and he wrestled with the shadow inside for control. The shadow wanted to destroy the blonde that could be a danger, but Sora's heart was strong, and in the end he pulled through.   
  
Blinking tiredly, he stood straight, letting the Keyblade vanish into nothingness, "We've got evidence to find."  
  
"Evidence?" wondered the ex-Knight, "What do we need evidence for?"  
  
"To prove Alice innocent," the brown haired boy returned. At Seifer's confused look he elaborated, "I got involved with her trial when the Queen said Alice was guilty of trying to steal her heart."  
  
"That Queen must be beautiful for another chick to be trying to get her heart," grinned the blonde, and the dirty thoughts running through his mind were obvious. Sora wondered for a moment why he was the most mature of the pair, before Seifer's words caught up to him and he started laughing, "Hey! What's so funny?"  
  
"The Queen... beautiful?!" he laughed harder, "Only if you like red-faced women bigger than most tables!"  
  
Almasy gave his friend an annoyed scowl, crossing his arms, "Okay, okay. So she's not beautiful. What's the deal with her heart being stolen?"  
  
"Almost stolen," Sora corrected once he'd caught his breath again, "Apparently a Heartless tried to take her heart like they tried back in Traverse Town; the Queen decided to blame it on Alice, and now we've got to find evidence to prove Alice innocent."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. You _voluntarily_ got involved with another world's politics? Sora, have you ever heard of the term 'meddling'?"  
  
---  
  
After a quick introduction of Seifer to the Queen, the two teenagers had finally gotten back into the Lotus Forest to begin their investigation.  
  
"Where to first, Kid?"  
  
"We'll split up," Sora muttered a bit distantly, "You can over there--" he pointed to their left, "--And I'll check out over here, okay?"  
  
"If you think you know what you're doing," but Seifer's jibe fell on deaf ears and the man shrugged. Sora was in one of his 'moods' again. The blonde was positive the younger male was worse than any number of the girls he'd grown up with in Garden. Well, at least he didn't kick him in the shin like Fujin used to... on that melancholy note, he shuffled off towards the left, letting Sora search out to the right of them.   
  
All he found was an astonishingly large yellow flower. Curious-- but wary, Seifer had grown up around plant-like creatures who were rather lethal-- he poked it with Hyperion's hilt. The giant black blade nearly slipped out of his grasp when the plant plaintively whined at him to give it... a potion? Oooookay, this was really weird. Why would a plant need a potion?   
  
The urge to walk away and continue his search for evidence to free that pretty blonde in the cage beside the Queen's 'throne' was hastily overpowered. He didn't listen to his common sense very often, which generally meant that his taking one of the small potion bottles out of his trench coat should have been expected. A soft grunt and the stopper had been pulled out, the glowing green fluid within swirling gently.  
  
"Alright flower," he muttered half to it, but mostly to himself, "here's a potion."  
  
And then the silvery-grey mist that had made Sora smaller swirled around him and his skittered backwards. He couldn't possibly be getting... smaller could he?!   
  
He needn't have worried. Instead of getting smaller-- he was returning to his normal height. How interesting. To bad there didn't seem to be any way out when this big. And where had Sora gotten off to?  
  
---  
  
"Bottled stench," Sora made a face. Only in this world. With a sigh, he shook his head, tucking the small glass jar into his pocket, beside the small box containing the footprints of the Heartless that he'd managed-- somehow-- to get out of the dirt without damaging them. He attributed it to the strange world he was currently within. It was certainly easier than trying to find a logical explanation.   
  
Sighing, he turned to head back to the Lotus Forest... and groaned pitifully. Summoning the Keyblade into his hand, he raced forwards to take on the ever annoying Heartless. Why couldn't they just leave him alone for once?!  
  
---  
  
Sighing, the now regular sized Seifer shuffled around a bit uncomfortably-- he was certainly far to large for this place, having to crouch so that the branches of the small trees that surrounded him didn't scratch his face up. That stump to the right of him certainly didn't help matters. Somewhat annoyed with it, the blonde kicked the stump.   
  
Nothing happened.  
  
He'd half been expecting something to happen. This world was so messed up.   
  
Perhaps if he took a seat, he'd be able to think something out. With a grunt, he settled himself down on the stump-- only to have it sink into the ground beneath him! Scowling mightily, the former Knight glared up at the barely visible sky, "Oh yeah, yuk it up!"  
  
And then his eye caught on a spot of brown up in the trees. Blinking, he stood up, subconsciously brushing the dirt off his jacket, and moving closer to the brown, "Well, I'll be damned..."  
  
It was a seed-- not only that, but a seed identical to the one that had made him small in the first place. With a grin, he reached out, scooping the seed into his hand; failing to notice the black 'twigs' that stuck to his fingers as he did so.  
  
Sure, he'd be small again, but at least he'd be able to get out of this damned Forest. Besides, there still was that red bottle back in the only actual 'room' they'd come across. He was pretty sure that would get him back to normal size, and as he popped the bitter size-reducing seed into his mouth, he made a note not to let Sora drink first. There was no need for another broken bottle!  
  
Once that disturbing transformation was over, he stretched out his arms over his head-- and felt something fall down and smack him in the face. With a start, the ex-Cadet's eyes popped open, and he looked down at his feet. There were... sticks? Stooping down he got a better look at the black, shadowy sticks-- they had to be the antenna of the basic Heartless. Which meant-- "Evidence!"  
  
"You found some too?"  
  
Seifer started, looking up to see Sora peering down at him over the edge of out of the more bushy areas of the tree-tops. How had the boy... no never mind. Seifer didn't really care, "Yeah, apparently your Heartless shed, Kid."  
  
"Don't call me that-- they seem to like breathing into bottles, too," was the cheeky response, before the teenager flipped himself off the branches, wincing slightly as he landed. He hadn't done so properly, and thus pain lanced up through his legs, forcing him to grit his teeth against it. Apparently that latest fight had been a bit rough on him, "Think we've got enough?"  
  
"Antenna and breath--"  
  
"And Footprints."  
  
"--Well, if it's not enough we can always ask for more time," Seifer grinned, "I just want to get out of here. We'll probably have to head back to Traverse Town."  
  
"Eh? Why?"  
  
The blonde threw an arm around his companion's shoulders, "Because, do you _really_ think they have fuel around here?"  
  
"Oh. Right."  
  
Somewhat cheerfully, the nineteen year old guided the fourteen year old back into the Queen's Grove, ready to present some evidence. Well, that was the plan, any way. With the way this world worked, who knew what could happen?  
  
The Queen was, for once, not watching the pair entire. In fact, it appeared that she was having a quiet argument with Alice. So the pair shuffled for a moment in front of the Queen's throne, before Seifer rolled his eyes and caught one of the walking playing cards by the 'shoulder'. Said card looked upon the blonde knight with such a look of disdain that any lesser mortal would have cowered at it. But Seifer Almasy was no mere man; he was a Sorceress' Knight, and had lived through glares of accusation that put whatever this card had to shame.  
  
"Do you have the evidence?"   
  
"Yeah, we got your evidence, card-man," Seifer smirked infuriatingly, "Can we get this on with?"  
  
"Present your evidence, then!" the card snapped back, glaring at the arrogant human. Seifer just seemed to be able to get on peoples' nerves with only his presence. The Queen of Hearts looked up at the sharp tone in her guard's voice, only just noticing that the two males had returned. She smiled pleasantly at Sora, and shot Seifer a warning look.  
  
"Yes, present your evidence."  
  
The box that contained the footprints, the bottle containing the stench of putrid breath, and the baggy with the antenna were all laid out before the so-called throne. Had she been anyone but the obese Queen of Hearts, the pout that graced her face would have been sultry. As it was, Sora was positive he'd have nightmares of that frown into eternity.  
  
"That's quite the amount of evidence," she spoke, "But I'm still not convinced. Cards! Bring in my evidence!"  
  
The red card that had been sneering at Seifer and his black companion each brought forth a box, setting them onto the ground on either side of Sora and Seifer's evidence. Muttering under her breath, the Queen cast a spell that Seifer didn't manage to catch, each bit of evidence being surrounded by a pink box, and then magically distributed. Both teenagers began to scowl. The Queen smiled, "Since checking all the boxes would be a waste of time... chose one box and I will decide who's guilty based on that!"  
  
"What?!" squawked an annoyed Sora, "After all the crap I had to go through to get all that--"  
  
"You dare object?!" the Queen interrupted, "The price for objecting is beheading!"  
  
"Fine!" Sora snapped, "I chose... that one!" and he pointed directly to the center box.   
  
"Are you sure?" came the woman's sly purr, "You have no second chances."  
  
"I'm sure!" he barked back, glaring. Seifer was mildly impressed. The kid would have made for a pretty good SeeD. The Queen scowled, momentarily wondering why she had felt so strongly against beheading him just over twelve hours earlier. Right now, she'd gladly have the interloping twit's throat torn out by rabid wolves. She made a motion with her left hand, and one of the Cards trooped forwards, popping open the box. Inside was another box, and the two out-worlders smirked.  
  
The Card opened the second box-- and the two teenagers lost their smirks as out of the footprints it contained arose another Heartless. It snarled viscously, lunging at the Card, clawed hand reaching out to pierce through the Card's torso area to take a swipe at it's heart. Before it could, however, a voice rang out, "No Mercy!"  
  
Green light and black blade combined, shattering the Heartless in an instant. Seifer grinned ruthlessly, holding up a small golden stone, before tucking it back into his pocket. At Sora's curious look he elaborated, "Aura Stone. They don't last long, and I've only got two, so I try to stretch them out."  
  
"What was that?!" the self-made Queen was shrieking, and Sora turned his attention back to her.  
  
"That was your culprit, your majesty. Alice is innocent."  
  
"SILENCE!" her voice echoed over the glade, "_I'm_ the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"  
  
"Sounds like one of Mistress' laws," Seifer muttered as an aside to his companion.  
  
"CARDS! SEIZE THEM!"  
  
The two were suddenly back-to-back as the Guard of Cards surrounded them. Out of the corner of his eye, Seifer saw the cage holding Alice shoot up to the top of the flag standard it was next to. Sora heard the clang of metal on metal when it reached the top, "You ready?" growled his partner.  
  
Sora's blue eyes hardened to diamond, his inner shadow curling up and around his heart for extra protection, "Are you?"  
  
"Hell yeah," the mercenary crowed, launching himself forwards and into the Cards. Melee battle soon commenced, and Sora threw himself into the crowd coming from the other side. His darkness pushing him forwards, Sora bared his teeth in a ruthless grin, eyes hazing over and becoming like dark glass.   
  
The shadow that had hidden within him sunk it's claws that much deeper into his soul as he tore into battle. The Keyblade hummed with magical essence in his gloved hands, tearing through Cards at a viscous rate but, surprisingly, not causing any serious harm. This infuriated Sora, and he doubled his efforts until the Cards were actually running away from him.  
  
Seifer had much the same lack of injury problem on his side, but he didn't let it get to him. Hyne knew there had been monsters in the Training Center in Balamb Garden that hadn't physically shown injury until they had collapsed dead before the attacker. A T-Rexaur for example.   
  
But this wasn't time for remembrance. He had a blonde girl to save. Once they got Alice out of that cute little cage, they could flee back to Traverse Town. Maybe set the girl up with an apartment-- preferable close to his. She was quite the pretty girl after all.  
  
So he maneuvered himself to beside the standard baring the cage, Hyperion held defensively. One of the Cards lunged at him, in a desperate attempt to lop of his head; and Seifer dodged. The blade the red card carried sliced through the rope holding the cage up, causing it to plummet to the ground.   
  
Thank Hyne for Seifer, however, as the blonde man leapt up to grab the rope and slow the decent to keep Alice from getting whiplash or something similarly nasty when she landed. Broken Bones were quite feasible. But when he tore the cloth away from the gilded bird cage that the Queen had locked her in... it was empty, "What the hell!?"  
  
The Queen swivelled, turning her attention to the bloodthirsty way the brown haired fourteen year old was fighting, to the broad shouldered blonde. The her eyes shifted to the cage, "It's empty!"   
  
"No shit," Seifer muttered, as the Queen started screeching about someone finding the blonde haired girl in the blue dress. Seifer settled for slapping his hand on Sora's shoulder and running in the direction of the exit. Better to get out _now_ then to be killed by the psycho queen. It took the Islander a moment to shake off his darkness' influence and run after his companion. As they slipped from the glade they heard the Queen of Hearts bellow that she 'didn't care how' but that someone had to 'find the ones' who took Alice.   
  
Back in the strange tea-room, the two stifled irritated sighs.   
  
"Well, that was pointless," muttered the younger of the pair.  
  
"See, this is why we don't meddle," was his companion's response. "C'mon, let's get back to our normal sizes, eh?"  
  
"What about Alice?" the too nice for his own good teenager wondered.  
  
Seifer have him a flat look, "They'll find her, she's probably just hiding in that freaky forest."  
  
"You would believe that, yes?" Seifer stiffened, whirling to the voice, and Sora settled for glaring at the dimension-hopping cat.  
  
"Do _you_ know where Alice is?" the brown haired boy wondered idly, and the Cheshire Cat grinned widely.  
  
"Perhaps she is with the shadows? The best view is from higher up." And he abruptly faded out.  
  
"Who the _hell_ was _that_?" questioned the blonde who was officially questioning his sanity. This had to be some drug induced haze, and he was laying unconscious in an alley somewhere in Dollet. That was the best answer he could come up with for this wacked out world he'd suddenly found himself apart of.  
  
"The Cheshire Cat," Sora sighed, "Don't know if he's helping or just doing it to get some kicks. How are we supposed to get big again?"  
"The red potion," Seifer pointed up at the table, "We can scale the chair and jump up onto it from there. Shouldn't be to hard."  
  
"And how are we going to drink from that bottle? It's pretty big."  
  
"We'll figure it out when we get there!" he returned with a maniac cheerfulness that produced a small rock in the pit of Sora's stomach. He just _knew_ something was about to go seriously wrong. He _really_ hated that feeling. He'd gotten it the day prior to Destiny Islands being destroyed all those months earlier, and he had it again.   
  
He just hoped this world didn't end up destroyed as well. That would be... bad.  
  
"Understatement, Sora," he muttered sourly, beginning the arduous climb up the side of the chair. Seifer had already pulled ahead of him and was jumping up, stretching out as far as he could to grasp onto the edge of the table and haul himself over. The feeling in the pit of Sora's stomach only increased.  
  
---  
  
"God be damned!" Sora roared angrily, hissing as he rubbed at the burns on his chest. Seifer, ragged and bloody gave him an evil look.  
  
"Oh, like you've got it the worst."  
  
"I'm covered in burns from head to toe!" Sora snapped back, glaring evilly. That giant Heartless had just come out of nowhere, startling both teenagers. Both were battered and bruised from the battle, but there was a sense of exhilaration along the lines of their bodies. Sora was exceptionally happy, despite his veneer of pain and fury, because the world hadn't been destroyed before or after the battle. It was something to be proud of.  
  
Especially after having seen Destiny Islands destroyed from close up.   
  
"What a racket," a tired voice interrupted their verbal battle, and the to males found the doorknob glaring blurrily at them, "How's a doorknob to get any sleep...?" and he yawned widely.   
  
Sora gave a startled-- and pained, as he was, indeed, covered in burns from head to toe-- yelp as the Keyblade still in his hand jerked upwards. It aimed itself at the still yawning doorknob, and a thin beam of golden light raced from the tip out and into the doorknob's mouth, "What the...?"  
  
"That's pretty freaky," Seifer muttered, eyes wide as a 'click' echoed loudly around them, sounding like... a door had locked itself? How very, very bizarre. He couldn't wait to get out of this world, and he definitely had the feeling that Sora wanted to as well.  
  
A fist-sized computer chip fell from the doorknob's 'mouth' as he finished his long yawn and settled back in for a nice nap. Seifer stepped forwards to pick it up as Sora dropped the key to whimper and hold his aching, burned arm. Stupid red and black paper-Heartless, and it's stupid flame throwing tricks. If it hadn't been for the potions that both he and Seifer carried on them, he was positive that he would have died.  
  
Seifer shook his head, stuffing the piece into a pocket of his trench coat. He turned back to his friend, and promptly whined, "Can we _go_ now?"  
  
---  
End Chapter  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
51kb minus author's notes. Not to shabby. Like I said last chapter, this is likely only to come out once a month or so. It's bloody hard to write, despite having the plans right here beside me. To be perfectly honest, over the past month I sat down maybe eight times and only wrote five or six paragraphs a shot.   
  
Long and tiring it may be but... well, that's just the way things are, ne? I hope you liked this chapter as much as you liked the previous one. And don't worry, the chapters are highly unlikely to get shorter than this. Believe you me. Oh, and for those wondering, I've got twenty-three chapters planned out. That means twenty-three chapters that covers Kingdom Hearts from beginning to end, plus a lot of stuff thrown in for the hell of it. Expect there to be some pointless chapters here and there, however.  
  
You know me, I just can't help myself. ^___^  
  
- Li Xiang  
Self-Proclaimed Goddess of Bandaids and Cows. 


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